A blog about quilts'n stuff

A blog about quilts'n stuff

Friday 8 June 2012

Liberty of London

What a glorious name!
My mom used to wear blouses from Liberty and I loved the tiny prints, Yes I grew up in the seventies (was born in the 60's).
I had three main goals in London: meeting bloggers and others !!! + Liberty, the shop + V&A.
The meeting was over and me and the Mister went early on our way as the walls in our hotel were made of rice paper ...
We went to Oxford Circus where nearly all the shops open at 10, so we had to wait a bit.
We strolled along to Regent Street where the shop should be.
After a while we turned to the left to Great Marlborough Street where we saw this impressive building:


Very impressive indeed!
The cab was a nice extra (for this foreigner).
And it was open!
More info on the shop on this site, but I have to show you this from the Wiki site:
"The Tudor revival building was built so that trading could continue while renovations were being completed on the other premises and in 1924 this store was constructed from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The frontage on Great Marlborough Street is the same length as the Hindustan. It is a Grade II* listed building."
So it was built in 1924!! Who would've guessed!

This was in the furniture department, special exhibition of Art & Crafts furniture. It's all new but you really cannot see that! Sorry about the blurry picture but it does give you an impression of the beauty of the shop

We first strolled through the cards and stationary department, we both like pens, nice paper, beautiful cards. But then we quickly went up to the 3rd floor: FABRIC. We came out of the elevator (a word which is hardly used in London) and nearly bumped into a lady pointing out the beautiful fabrics she had on offer: Kaffe Fasset's. I said: we've come for the real thing, sorry.
And oh, there are so many 'real things' there:

This is just a part of the fabrics they have on display.
These (above) are packets with 50 pieces of hexagons, ready to go. You could make something like what you see on the right (top)



Here's a close up (above)



Here's the lovely lady that helped us: Niamh Mccartney (from Ireland), sorry about the flash.
If you're in the shop and you want excellent service: go see Niamh!! Or phone them!
Everything is shipped internationally.

There are special packets (above) with strips of fabric.
number of strips: 13
size of the strips: 10 cm x 136 cm  =  3,9" x 53,5"
size of the quilt you could make with these: 134 cm x 104 cm (45,5" x 53") ish?

And they have bias binding too.

The fabric is soooooo soft, it feels like voile! I cannot wait to get stuck in my pile.
Expensive, yes, but so beautiful. And if you have a Mister like mine (a very good friend or relative would do too) it won't cost you anything!
Here's what I (he) treated me to:


I really didn't unpack till I got home and my personal choice were the classic ones:


I'd like to make a simple quilt, perhaps just strips, so you can see the beauty of these fabrics.
Unless you have another suggestion?




8 comments:

  1. What a lovely post! I didn't know the history of the shop. I resisted spending my money here. Maybe next time I will take my husband!

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  2. What a wonderful place to visit!

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  3. Wow. That is epic.

    Love your fabric selections. I think I would make something that lets the plums contrast with the pinks...half square triangles would do nicely, or large stars or alternating colors.

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  4. Amazing! Heaven. You were very restrained, and bless your husband, no wonder you've been married so long (nothing says love more than a man who just wants to see his wife happy). I agree, a simple quilt to show off those beautiful fabrics. Maybe something simple yet striking like this one by Rita, made from AMH voiles? Have fun fondling them until you come up with something - that's what I'd be doing!

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  5. Mouthwatering fabrics. Particularly the darker blue birds.... Umm Cille, self control... Pronto!
    I would make a simple piecing. Perhaps the pendant quilt from Joel Dewberry. Huge pieces of fabric but still a pattern. I made it for my god daugherts quilt and it was perfect to showcase the fabric.

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  6. Oooh, enjoy! I didn't make it there, but did head down to Shaukat near the hotel that stock loads of Liberty, including their out of print stuff (although not being an aficionado, I really have no idea what is 'out of print'). I've been a couple of years ago though, and it is such a mind blowing place! Maybe I need to go when I'm back down in July with my mum and dad, and see if they're feeling as generous as your hubby ;o)

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  7. Lovely post Betty, Thanks! Making up a bit for missing Liberty this time. Mind you, the better on my wallet! I would so have had that red binding!

    Why not join Katy's (Imagermonkey) hexie quilt along? Those fabrics would be lovely in that quilt!

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  8. Drool! I'm heading to London in the fall - now I know where I will be found!

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